Tag: Walsh Gallery

“Passover affirms the great truth that liberty is the inalienable right of every human being…. Pharaoh enslaved a whole race, and was chastised for his crime by the Divine Hand. But in thus intervening between the slave and his oppressor the Almighty fixed His canon against slavery for all time. He thereby declared that every human being has the right to the freedom which will enable him to develop to the utmost all the powers of body, of mind, of soul, with which God has endowed him; and that slavery, therefore, with its debasing effects upon the intellect and the character, is a sin against the laws of God himself.” – Morris Joseph, Jewish Theologian, excerpt from his book, Passover: Judaism as Creed and Life

Passover is a week-long festival commemorating the exodus of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. In Hebrew, it is called Pesach, meaning “to pass over,” as God passed over the homes of Israelites during the tenth plague on the first Passover. This multicolored serigraph print in a graphic style depicts a Rabbi wearing a yarmulke and a tallit, reading from a prayer book. In the background are two rolled Torah scrolls in a Aron Kodesh, or Holy Arc.

Alfred BoothThe Seton Family at their estate in CragdonReproduction of an original albumen silver print
8” × 8 ⅞”
1866 – 1867
Courtesy of Archives and Special Collections
Mss 0074

Check out this photo of Seton family members at Cragdon, their estate located in the area tucked between the present-day Bronx neighborhoods of Wakefield and Eastchester. Going through family photos can unearth gems like one and is a great activity for your extra time at home. As you rediscover your own treasured images, there are a few things you can do to increase their longevity. Make sure you have clean, dry hands when handling photos and try not to touch the image directly but hold it from the sides and bottom. When thinking about where to store your photos, areas with temperatures between 65-70 degrees are ideal, as rooms temperature changes common in rooms such as a basement or attic can accelerate deterioration. If your photos are kept in an album, use ones with acid-free pages or polyester, polypropylene, or polyethylene sleeves and use photo corners instead of glue or tape when mounting photos. When displaying your photos, keep them out of direct sunlight to avoid fading, yellowing, and embrittlement.

Ramadan Mubarak (Blessed Ramadan)! One of the holiest months of the year for Muslims, Ramadan commemorates the month in which the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam, was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by Allah (God). Daily fasting is practiced, and it is a time of self-reflection and spiritual improvement. Ramadan is a time to strengthen one’s relationship with Allah through reading the Qur’an and prayer, as well as reinforce communal bonds through shared meals when breaking the fast and giving to the poor. This print depicting figures in white walking towards a mosque with two minarets and a gold dome is by American Muslim, sports figure, celebrity and political activist, Muhammad Ali, who joined the Nation of Islam in 1964 and later converted to Sufi Islam after a pilgrimage to Mecca in the 1970s.

“Good Friday is much more than reliving the passion of Jesus; it is entering into solidarity with the passion of all people of our planet, whether in the past, the present, or the future.” – Henri Nouwen

Each year on Good Friday, Christians commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ at Calvary. Ludy’s engraving depicts these events. Pontius Pilate is shown a plaque which reads, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS” in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, as Jesus is nailed to the cross in the background. The figure depicted on the far-left kneeling in prayer is artist Johann Friedrich Overbeck who painted the original work on which this engraving is based.